“I’m about to get a ring” - Pedro Martinez. Nice shirt, too.
Wild card clinched, thanks to four blasts and thanks to a timely ejection of Scott Kazmir, who pretty much owns the Sox at this point in his nascent career. (Dear me - lefthanded fireballers.) I didn’t think his second throw was intentional, but the warning was on, so out he went. The D-Rays must be the worst supported team in the AL - every Sox hit was cheered, and somewhere in the 7th inning the “Yankees suck” chant was audible. Meanwhile, kudos is due to Bronson Arroyo for becoming the final starter in the Sox rotation to get 10 wins, no thanks to some bad luck. Today’s game really added to his claim to the #3 position in the Sox postseason rotation, leaving Lowe and Wakefield out. I’d go with Wakefield and draw on Lowe’s strengths as a very capable reliever, but you could make the exact same argument the other way around. In a 5 game series, of course, you only really need 3 starters, so I’d go: Pedro, Schilling, Wakefield, Pedro, Schilling. Schilling’s been more consistent this year, but Pedro as the Game 1 starter avoids screwing up the timing of the rotation.
Meanwhile, the As looked in peril of completely missing the postseason today but got a last-gasp Bobby Crosby sac fly. Crosby’s looking good as a rookie. Sure, he’s not hitting as well as he could but that should improve.
Tomorrow, the work of trying to win the division, settling the postseason rotation, and other tuneups begins. The real task is at hand. But for tonight, I think the Sox are entitled to celebrate.